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Craft & Design Awards 2015

Awards Ceremony

The RTS has announced the winners of this year's Craft & Design Awards.

The Craft and Design Awards 2015 were presented by Susan Calman at the Hilton Park Lane, London on November 30.

Winners

Costume Design - Drama: Amy Roberts

Title: Cilla

Production Company: Group M Entertainment/ITV Studios

Broadcaster: ITV

Nominees:

Daiva Petrulyè -
The Eichmann Show

Marianne Agertoft -
Poldark

“In the jury's view, rather than just create a narrow representation of a particular year, the imaginative approach to the costumes created a vibrant and engaging portrayal of an entire post war period and very effectively supported the growth and development of the central character.”

Costume Design - Entertainment & Non Drama Productions: Vicky Gill

Title: Strictly Come Dancing

Production Company: BBC Productions

Broadcaster: BBC One

Nominees:

Heather MacVean -
The Keith Lemon Sketch Show

Sarah Ryan -
Raised By Wolves - Series 1

“Crucial in helping the various celebrities develop as both dancers and performers, the jury recognised the enormous difficulties and technical achievement of the costume design and its role in creating the essence of the show itself.”

Director - Fiction: Julian Farino

Title: Marvellous

Production Company: Fifty Fathoms/Tiger Aspect

Broadcaster: BBC Two

Nominees:

Alice Troughton -
Cucumber

Paul Andrew Williams -
The Eichmann Show

“The director brought both fictional and real versions of the same character to our screens as if it was the most natural thing in the world. A bitter sweet, but ultimately heart-warming story where the characters and overarching human positivity were the stars of the show. The piece was grounded yet inspirational, a joy to judge.”

Director - Non-Fiction: Colette Camden

Title: What Do Artists Do All Day? Sue Webster

Production Company: BBC Arts

Broadcaster: BBC Four

Nominees:

Edward Watts -
Escape From ISIS

Dan Edge -
Outbreak: The Truth About Ebola

“Beautifully shot and constructed as well as a great example of wonderful storytelling.”

“The storytelling set up the proposition in a creative and compelling manner, using genuine cultural references to take us seamlessly into the near future.”

Design - Trails & Packaging: 4Creative and ManvsMachine

Title: Film4 Idents

Production Company: 4Creative/Man Vs Machine

Broadcaster: Film4

Nominees:

4Creative -
Humans

4Creative -
Grand National 2015

“The jury agreed these were very creative trails which captured and provoked the imagination.”

Editing - Drama: Paul Pandolpho

Title: Cucumber

Production Company: Red Production Company

Broadcaster: Channel 4

Nominees:

David Blackmore -
Wolf Hall

Elen Pierce Lewis -
Marvellous

“The editing quite clearly was one of the stars of an incredibly brave piece of television. Outstanding visceral storytelling where the skill of the editor was key.”

Editing - Documentary & Factual: Todd Downing

Title: Welcome To Mayfair

Production Company: CTVC

Broadcaster: BBC Two

Nominees:

Stuart Napier & Imogen Pollard -
Pets - Wild At Heart

Rupert Houseman -
The Detectives

“Impressive editing and storytelling, allowed viewers to get to know the characters without being told what to think about them. A thoughtful and unrushed pace.”

Editing - Entertainment & Situation Comedy: Robin Hill

Title: W1A

Production Company: BBC Comedy Productions London

Broadcaster: BBC Two

Nominees:

William Webb & Pete Drinkwater -
Raised By Wolves - Series 1

Mark Henson & Steven Ackroyd -
Cockroaches - Series 1

“The jury all agreed that this programme is very well edited. The jokes land well, and also strong emotional moments appear effortless. The editor gives us a consistent, very enjoyable tone.”

Editing - Sport: Editing Team

Title: BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2014

Production Company: BBC Sport

Broadcaster: BBC One

Nominees:

Tim Boyd & Robin Nurse -
F1 2014 End of Season Closing Montage

BBC Production Team and The Farm North Production -
FA Cup Final

“The levels of craft and skill on show were exceptional with perfectly judged edits and original sound design. The result was a set of visually stunning films with clever storytelling at their heart. Some of the ideas were brave but accomplished editing and production realised lofty ambitions.”

“The jury loved this show, not only for the quality of its special effects, but also for their execution, skill and variety. The show relied, at key moments, on its technicians to deliver a believable and impactful story, which they did with great aplomb.”

Lighting for Multicamera: Chris Rigby

Title: Later With Jools Holland - Series 45, Episode 6

Production Company: BBC Productions

Broadcaster: BBC Two

Nominees:

Lighting Team -
Coronation Street: Victoria Court Fire

Bernie Davis -
VE Day 70: The Nation Remembers

“Outstanding work which skilfully produced a stimulating viewer experience.”

“Balancing the comedy elements against the poignancy of the characterisation, the jury was impressed by the high level of creativity and technical achievement.”

Music - Original Score: Samuel Sim

Title: Home Fires

Production Company: ITV Studios

Broadcaster: ITV

Nominees:

Will Gregory -
Pets - Wild At Heart

Kevin Sargent -
Mapp and Lucia

“The winning composer integrates the voices at the heart of the World War II series’ theme into an evocative and always human underscore.”

Music - Original Title: Samuel Sim

Title: Home Fires

Production Company: ITV Studios/Masterpiece

Broadcaster: ITV

Nominees:

Vince Pope -
No Offence

Tim Phillips -
Agatha Christies Partners In Crime

“The winner has found a fresh and supremely effective perspective on familiar territory by literally giving voice to the women in this World War II drama.”

Multicamera work: Tom Parr, James Abadi & Camera Team

Title: Release The Hounds - Series 1

Production Company: Gogglebox Entertainment

Broadcaster: ITV2

Nominees:

Camera Team -
VJ Day 70: The Nation Remembers

Chris Howe -
Alan Carr Chatty Man - Series 13/14

“The mood was set skilfully to create a truly exhilarating viewer experience.”

Multicamera Work - Sport: Simon Wheeler

Title: Indian Premier League

Production Company: IMG Productions

Broadcaster: Sky Sports

Nominees:

Paul Davies & Matthew Griffiths -
Six Nations 2015: The Final Day

“Outstanding initiative in harsh conditions, produced a slick and exciting viewer experience.”

Production Design - Drama: David Roger

Title: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Production Company: Cuba Pictures/Feel Films

Broadcaster: BBC One

Nominees:

Lisa Hall -
Cilla

Helen Scott -
The Last Honour of Christopher Jefferies

Production Design - Entertainment & Non Drama Productions: Lucy Fyfe

Title: The Keith Lemon Sketch Show

Production Company: Talkback, part of FremantleMediaUK

Broadcaster: ITV2

Nominees:

Dominic Clasby & Stephen Bryce -
Back in Time for Dinner

Brian Sykes -
Nurse

“The design triumphantly achieved a very large number of varied and often uncannily accurate looks that helped the comedy create its sparky and off-beat parodies.”

Picture Enhancement: Dan Coles

Title: The Eichmann Show

Production Company: Feelgood Fiction

Broadcaster: BBC Two

Nominees:

Aidan Farrell -
Indian Summers

Aidan Farrell -
Remember Me

“The jury thought that the picture enhancement was outstanding, implemented with great skill and sensitivity complimenting the mood and atmosphere of this powerful docudrama.”

Photography - Drama: Mike Eley

Title: The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies

Production Company: Carnival Film & Television

Broadcaster: ITV

Nominees:

Gavin Finney -
Wolf Hall

Simon Dennis -
Peaky Blinders - Series 2

“The jury felt the photography emotionally reflected the journey of the central character. We were inside his head thanks to the outstanding camerawork, adding another engrossing layer to this moving and powerful story.”

Photography - Documentary/Factual & Non Drama: Brendan McGinty

Title: Secret Life of Twins

Production Company: Oxford Scientific Films

Broadcaster: ITV

Nominees:

Camera Team -
Pets - Wild At Heart

James Newton -
The Detectives

“Intimate, innovative - extraordinary. The jury was impressed by the relationship throughout between the photography and the story - not the triumph of style over content, but a case of the photography enhancing the audience’s understanding.”

Sound - Drama: Sound Team

“The judges felt this drama quite simply achieved ‘movie sound’ on television. The soundscape created a world that the viewer utterly believed in but never felt as if it took over from the drama in any way. It was well judged to enhance the scale and impact of the drama itself.”

“Quite simply this piece was considered stunning. With a level of detail that was awe inspiring. What was additionally brilliant was that the resulting soundscape was never relentless, even when it was slightly heightened it was perfectly judged.”

Design & Craft Innovation

Pets – Wild At Heart Production Team, John Downer Productions for BBC One

“This year the judges have awarded the RTS Design & Craft Innovation Award to a series on pets that was anything but domestic in terms of its visual flair and technical wizardry.

We witnessed how our favourite pets stay in touch with their wild side – from talkative budgies and marathon-running hamsters to wall-climbing cats and an island where rabbits rule – this was an eye-popping series filled with innovative photography and scientific revelation.

The animals were shot on a huge variety of different camera systems – including high speed, infrared, ultraviolet, fluoroscopy, remote and on board cameras, periscope and underwater filming and even Schlieren photography. For the Schlieren sequences the camera systems were built from scratch using an astronomical optical mirror and precision interrupted light sources . Although this technique dates back 150 years it is rarely used today because of its complexity – and as well as being able to show the air currents around a budgie's wings it also uniquely demonstrated the complex counter flow of air as it enters a dogs nose. And for the hamster xray sequence – fluoroscopy had to be combined with conventional photography of the same scene to allow fascinating access to a hamster as it filled its cheeks with nuts.

Despite such varied ways of gathering images, each one had to complement the other to retain consistency across the series and all the astonishing images were captured in-camera rather than created by CG.

The exhilarating photography was complemented with editing that seamlessly integrated each engaging animal narrative with revelatory science – and the music avoided suggesting the standard cute and cuddly to both promote comedy and celebrate the geographical location of the animals involved.

The breadth of different production techniques lent an epic lens to the ordinary and the familiar and the production team pushed boundaries to create revelatory images that have never been seen before.”

Judges’ Award

Wolf Hall Production Team, Company Pictures/Playground Entertainment for BBC Two

Chronicling the life of Thomas Cromwell and based on the books by Hilary Mantel, the winning drama adopted a bold production stance by filming solely in authentic period locations, using a largely handheld camera, often capturing performance in one long continuous take and famously creating shimmering and atmospheric night scenes by using natural light from beeswax candles. As the narrative tension took hold we witnessed a progression of contrast and more powerful camera angles as Cromwell himself becomes increasingly dangerous to those around him.

The sophisticated soundscape moved seamlessly between objective and subjective states to enhance the sense of Cromwell's very personal response to well documented historical events. Skilled editing supported the highly complex narrative timelines and the raw vibrant musical score underlined the moral ambiguity that is at the heart of the original novel. Subtle use of digital effects was employed in every location to seamlessly remove every vestige of modern life and finely researched make-up and costume design added authentic period detail to every frame of the series.

Director Peter Kosminsky and DOP Gavin Finny embraced the darkness of the times and with unerring confidence slowly unfurled this captivating political intrigue in a series of beautiful and bejewelled scenes reminiscent of Vermeer and Rembrandt.

In the true spirit of the Craft & Design Awards the attention to detail in every aspect of production was immaculate and the jury felt this drama was highly creative, distinctive and a demonstration of expert craft skills across all production disciplines.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Dennis De Groot

“It is always a pleasure to present an award to an industry practitioner who has excelled in a particular field and this years’ winner is no exception.

His production credits stretch back over 36 years when he started work in the model and optical effects departments on classic comedy films The Life of Brian and Time Bandits. He was evidently badly bitten by the comedy bug as he then proceeded to quickly establish himself as the go to Production Designer on many of TV's most successful and revered sitcoms, entertainment shows and comedy dramas .

From Alan Partridge, through French and Saunders, Black Books, Jam, Little Britain, That Mitchell and Webb Look, A Young Doctors Notebook, The IT crowd and Bad Education – to name just a few titles in his extraordinary canon of work – our winner has demonstrated his knack of complementing demanding and complex sitcoms and sketch shows with inspired and inventive sets and witty design solutions – and it is no surprise that he is sought after time and time again by the best writers, producers and performers in the comedy fraternity.

Nira Park worked with him on Black Books and says: ‘he has a profound understanding of comedy. He is able to get inside the heads of the writers and directors he works with and help them pull off set pieces that many others might say are not possible. HIs imagination and creativity are inspiring.’

Gareth Edwards – Producer of Mitchell and Webb agrees: ‘he is meticulous in his planning, reliable and calm under pressure and is always a pleasure to work with. I deeply admire his mastery of and love for his craft.’ Graham Linehan says: ‘he does wonders with sometimes very little, infinitely flexible even when I'm being completely unreasonable, meets every idea with a new one. And of course, a gentleman and a pleasure to work with.’

He constantly dreams original and fresh ideas for the most demanding of genres. His creative flair and unerring eye for detail have offered up the most fabulous and evocative habitats for our most talented comedy performers to shine on for over three decades.”